


forgive me for what i have done // i've never felt the need to confess

by qualapec



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen, Post-Apocalypse, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-03
Updated: 2013-03-03
Packaged: 2017-12-04 04:21:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/706481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qualapec/pseuds/qualapec
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Avengers (2012) - "It burned. It all burned and he was with the only person who could stop it."</p>
            </blockquote>





	forgive me for what i have done // i've never felt the need to confess

**Author's Note:**

> Sad drabble pair I wrote a while ago. Trying to break my writer's block so I decided to edit and post them.

I.

Steve faced Loki, his shield a heavy weight on his arm, because for once, he was tired of fighting.

It burned. It all _burned_ and he was with the only person who could stop it.

“It’s not too late.”

“It is,” Loki’s voice had an indecipherable undercurrent to it, not sad, but not happy either. It was his loss too, and Steve wondered if Loki had just already lost so much that it didn’t even phase him anymore. “I am truly sorry.”

“No,” Steve said, teeth grating, “We’re not the only ones left. We can still rally them. If you help me we have a chance---“

“No,” Loki said shortly. “There is no chance. The Man of Iron, your archer, Thor,” at the mention of his brother, Steve saw the light flicker in Loki’s eyes as he paused, “all dead. Your Widow, lost to a great expanse. The Hulk is a vassal of your enemy. What futile hope is there to cling to, even when deluded?”

“You owe me.”

“What good is there in owing you my life if you would have me throw it away?” Loki showed teeth and turned from him, staff in hand, as he surveyed the smoke rising for miles in all directions, turning everything red as it blotted out the sun. “That said, you did spare my life, and I shall offer you the same.” He took a breath. “I plan to go far from this place. Come with me.”

Just once, that sounded tempting.

He shook his head. “I can’t.”

Loki, for a heartbeat, looked disappointed, then nodded, and it almost looked like respect. “So be it, soldier. Die with the rest, if that is your wish.”

II.

The world burned and Steve Rogers just sat one his knees and held his shield to prop himself up, because he felt like he was standing on the edge of a crumbling abyss, and he would fall if he tried to stand. His arms were shaking and his heart was numb, because this had been their last gamble and they both knew it. Everyone on the downed Helicarrier knew it. Fury, Hill, the team Steve brought with him, all knew it.

That didn’t make failing them any better.

“I hate you,” he said, enunciating every word.

“Hate is a bit personal, don’t you think?” Loki replied. He’d dragged himself over to a slanted piece of torn cement to sit up. His arm looked wrong, and he seemed to be having a hard time moving. Dark blood spilled out from his armor, pooling in the ground at its base.

In a ring around them, Thanos' elite chitauri soldiers stood frighteningly still, clattering frantically to each other. Steve’s brain registered how odd it was that they weren’t dead yet.

“What are they waiting for?” Steve couldn't hide the exhaustion in his voice.

“They are trapped in an illusion,” Loki intoned, and just once, Steve could see the man Thor was proud to call brother. “As long as I live, it stays. When it goes, you would do yourself…a mercy…” He broke off in a wet cough.

Steve gave him the dignity of trying not to listen to the wheezing or the gasping. He knew that it wouldn’t be long; he knew what people looked like when they were dying.

“Thank you for coming back,” Steve said, because he was raised to be polite.

"Save your thanks." Loki smiled weakly. Steve waited for the rest, because there was always a speech. By the time he glanced over his shield, he could see that Loki's skin was fading from flesh to dark blue, his open eyes waxed from grey to bright red. Steve found himself in awe at the change before he understood what it meant. Their old enemy was still, one last, unspoken insult hanging on his expression.

Steve had seen a lot of death. Loki wasn’t even a person he respected – pitied, maybe, but never respect – but he still felt the weight sink into his chest, swept over by a wave of anger and frustration. It would have been easier, he realized, if Loki had just left when he said he would, he’d be alive. Until that moment, Steve never saw hope as dangerous. He did now.

Just like that, everyone Steve had ever known was dead.


End file.
